KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit filed by a suburban Kansas City couple after a SWAT-style raid of their home in an unsuccessful search for marijuana.
Robert and Adlynn Harte sued the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office after the 2012 raid at their Leawood home. Authorities targeted the Hartes, both former CIA employees, after seeing Robert Harte leaving a store that sold hydroponic gardening equipment. Officers armed with assault rifles raided the couple’s home while their young children were present.
A 2.5-hour search found only tomato plants the family was growing with the hydroponic equipment.
The Kansas City Star reports a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2015 but a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated parts of it on Tuesday.
